DeNaples supporters testify in grand jury probe

Thursday

Aug 30, 2007 at 12:50 AMAug 30, 2007 at 1:46 AM

HARRISBURG (AP) — A priest and a former federal prosecutor who know Louis DeNaples appeared Wednesday at the Dauphin County Courthouse, where the wealthy northeastern Pennsylvania businessman is said to be a focus of an ongoing grand jury investigation.

HARRISBURG (AP) — A priest and a former federal prosecutor who know Louis DeNaples appeared Wednesday at the Dauphin County Courthouse, where the wealthy northeastern Pennsylvania businessman is said to be a focus of an ongoing grand jury investigation.

The priest and the prosecutor, who won a felony no-contest plea from DeNaples in 1978, have both lent support to DeNaples over the past two years as he successfully sought a slot-machine license from state regulators.

The Rev. Joe Sica, who was escorted by another man into the courthouse through a rear entrance Wednesday morning, would not respond to a reporter's questions about whether he was there to testify before the grand jury.

Sal Cognetti, the ex-prosecutor who is now in private practice, went into the second-floor conference room where the grand jury was meeting. He would not say if he was called as a witness or was representing a witness.

"I don't want to be impolite. I don't want to be rude, but I'm not going to talk," Cognetti told reporters after he left the room.

The grand jury investigation is being conducted in secret, as is customary, and prosecutors will not comment on the nature of the inquiry.

A person familiar with the probe has told The Associated Press that the grand jury is looking into information on DeNaples that grew out of a long state and federal investigation into alleged Scranton-area mobster William D'Elia. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.

As part of that investigation, authorities are looking into the accuracy of DeNaples' slots application, in which he told state regulators he had no connections to organized crime, the person said.

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board also has received a subpoena from the grand jury, although officials there say they do not believe the agency is a target.

A spokesman for DeNaples declined to comment Wednesday, but has said that DeNaples has no connection to organized crime.

D'Elia, who appeared before the Dauphin County grand jury last month, was indicted in 2006 on federal charges of money laundering and conspiring to kill a prosecution witness. D'Elia has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him. No trial has been scheduled.

DeNaples plans to open the $412 million Mount Airy Casino Resort in Paradise Township on Oct. 15.

Under the state law that legalized slot machines, the seven-member gaming board, after a majority vote, can revoke a slots license. If that happens, the $50 million fee paid by a casino licensee is forfeited.

DeNaples, who chairs his own bank and has businesses ranging from garbage disposal to auto parts, pleaded no contest in 1978 to a felony charge of conspiracy to defraud the federal government in a case involving government payments to clean up damage from the remnants of Hurricane Agnes. He was fined $10,000 and placed on probation for three years.

Others who appeared before the grand jury when it met Tuesday included James Decker, who was tried with DeNaples in the 1978 Agnes case, and Sam Staten Sr., a Philadelphia labor leader. Decker and Staten did not respond to questions about why they appeared.